In a MIMO wireless communication system, a first device having a plurality of antennas sends multiple spatial stream transmissions to a second device having a plurality of antennas. The allocation of power to the spatial streams affects the performance of the system. Fully equalizing power among the spatial streams does not always provide for best performance. Determining when and how to allocate power from strong beamforming modes to weaker beamforming modes is important in optimizing performance of a MIMO system.